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Favourite Cryptozoological creature/story?

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ProphetofOccam

ProphetofOccam

Paranormal Adept
Lore-wise, cryptozoology is, to me, the richest of the paranormal fields. Outside of the big two, which tend to dominate much of the attention spent on the concept, it boasts the widest margin of variation and uniqueness in its creatures, scenarios and tales. It is general enough to break cultural, economic and global barriers, yet specific enough to maintain a legitimate "fan"base.

Without any need for arguments regarding what is an isn't plausible, what are some of everyone's favourite cryptozoological creatures and/or tales?

I've always been fond of the dover demon and the loveland frog, in large part for their uniqueness and regional appeal.
 
The Jersey Devil is fun. Are there any stories in particular you like about the phenomenon, or is it just a general appreciation for the story, character appearance, etc?

In terms of werewolves, I'd ask the same thing. What are some of your favorite werewolf tales?
 
ProphetofOccam said:
Lore-wise, cryptozoology is, to me, the richest of the paranormal fields. Outside of the big two, which tend to dominate much of the attention spent on the concept, it boasts the widest margin of variation and uniqueness in its creatures, scenarios and tales. It is general enough to break cultural, economic and global barriers, yet specific enough to maintain a legitimate "fan"base.

Without any need for arguments regarding what is an isn't plausible, what are some of everyone's favourite cryptozoological creatures and/or tales?

I've always been fond of the dover demon and the loveland frog, in large part for their uniqueness and regional appeal.
Click to expand...

I like the giant bird stories. I don't recall any particular story off the top of my head, but way back when, Art Bell did an episode featuring stories about them, and at the time there had been a wave of sightings in Alaska, including a couple by the local bush pilots, one of whom said that he figured the wingspan was almost as wide as his plane.

The other ones I really like, but don't know if they're actually cryptozoological or something else, are the reports of giant wheels of light under the water in the ocean.

A Teratorn ...

teratorn1a.jpg
 
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ProphetofOccam said:
The Jersey Devil is fun. Are there any stories in particular you like about the phenomenon, or is it just a general appreciation for the story, character appearance, etc?

In terms of werewolves, I'd ask the same thing. What are some of your favorite werewolf tales?
Click to expand...

Well not too many cryptids took on a Commodore and as far as the loup garou, it's not so much werewolves but the legend of the beast of Gevaudan in France that I like
 
I like the giant bird stories. I don't recall any particular story off the top of my head, but way back when, Art Bell did an episode featuring stories about them, and at the time there had been a wave of sightings in Alaska, including a couple by the local bush pilots, one of whom said that he figured the wingspan was almost as wide as his plane.
Click to expand...


Large bird stories were the first, along with Mapinguari as Megatherium, that got me hooked on cryptozoology as a teenager (as an idea different and apart from UFO's an other paranormal concepts). Giant stuff really captures people imaginations. I always wonder why that is. It's so rare that you hear stories, even in folklore, of tiny versions of regular animals. Generally, it's tiny versions of people.
 
My personal favorite is the Beast of Bray Road. The countless stories of dogmen/werewolf like creatures that act very aggressive towards the eye witness, but inflict no actual physical violence or damage is fascinating. Godfrey's work has definitely cataloged the accounts and made me a believer in the existence of the bipedal dogman.
 
ProphetofOccam said:
Large bird stories were the first, along with Mapinguari as Megatherium, that got me hooked on cryptozoology as a teenager (as an idea different and apart from UFO's an other paranormal concepts). Giant stuff really captures people imaginations. I always wonder why that is. It's so rare that you hear stories, even in folklore, of tiny versions of regular animals. Generally, it's tiny versions of people.
Click to expand...

I love those too - if you haven't already, check out Stan Gordon's page for some up to date large bird shenanigans.
 
ProphetofOccam said:
The Jersey Devil is fun. Are there any stories in particular you like about the phenomenon, or is it just a general appreciation for the story, character appearance, etc?

In terms of werewolves, I'd ask the same thing. What are some of your favorite werewolf tales?
Click to expand...

I forget who exactly, but didn't one of the unofficial Skinwalker Ranch investigators - perhaps our own Ryan see some kind of airborne light that came toward them up on the hill, and it dropped down and manifested into the large wolf right in front of them?

And of course the smoking Dogmen...
 
My personal favourites include all stores of lycanthropy and transformative werewolf, dogmen and other fantastical wolf stories such as the Monster of Gevaudan:

MonsterTalk : The Big Bad Wolf

For an excellent look at the real historical origins of the The Jersey Devil listen to this Monster Talk episode - pretty fascinating Ameicana and great insight into the formation of cultural lore:

MonsterTalk : His Tory of the Jersey Devil
 
Goggs Mackay said:
I forget who exactly, but didn't one of the unofficial Skinwalker Ranch investigators - perhaps our own Ryan see some kind of airborne light that came toward them up on the hill, and it dropped down and manifested into the large wolf right in front of them?

And of course the smoking Dogmen...
Click to expand...
speaking of the skinwalker, I just picked up this book. Not sure if it legit or not but at least it was cheap. Hopefully it is of some value.
Skinwalker Shards Linger by Hoss Lors — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists
 
I tend to prefer creatures that are based around more "mundane" animals like:
Moby dick
the kracken
the Lambton worm
the dragon of Rhodes
Megaladon
Gigantic Anacondas or similar snakes
Thunderbirds (the feathered variety)
Gargantuan catfish
Sharks that swim up river
Black dogs (Hell hounds)
Faeries, mermaids, seamaids and lakemaids
Yetis and Bigfoots

Here are some I do not like:
dracula
wherewolves
chupacabra
Giant Mosquitoes
Vampires
and least of all witches/shapeshifters that can take the form of kittens or other small animals with the aim of being taken into your home:eek: (they scare # the out of me).
 
I'm not sure the Flatwoods Monster qualifies- but that incident always interests me. There was a paracast guest, maybe Redfern? Who suggested it may have been a military experiment, perhaps used overseas during WWII? Unless I'm confusing the attempted explanation of a different incident. Anyway, the story the witnesses described is pretty wild.
 
My personal favorite is Mothman, though I don't actually believe they are a harbinger of doom. With the exception of the Point Pleasant, WV, case, I haven't actually found there to be any link between the sightings and impending disaster. Most of the alleged sightings were only reported *after* the disaster had occurred. This tells me that either the reports are bogus, or that people had rather innocuous sightings which failed to impress upon them at the time, but were later credited to Mothman after a tragedy because they know the folklore and assume that must have been what they saw. Memories aren't exactly lock-boxes. What we think we remember changes drastically over time and is altered by more recent events.

I try to follow reports of Mothman sightings and have become amazed at how common these are. If these sightings truly were a sign of impending doom, most of the U.S. and perhaps the world would cease to exist. There was a famous sighting over Alaska a few years ago, made by a pilot, that even made some the national news sites. What impressed me about the account was not only that it was made by a pilot, but by the amount of detail he was able to provide. It seems clear that the pilot most assuredly saw something and that it was unlike anything he had seen before. I'm also unaware of any tragedy happening in Alaska around this time.

For obvious reasons (and being aware that it's cliché), I also try to stay abreast of Bigfoot sightings. It's rather sobering to consider just how many people in my town and the surrounding area have at least claimed to see Bigfoot. While most of these stories I could dismiss outright, there have been a few that have truly left an impression. Park Rangers and deputies have seen Bigfoot in and around my area, as have many regular townsfolk. In the case of the former, it's safe to assume they would certainly recognize a bear and the different kinds of animal calls. Another case which struck my attention involved an entire family that saw a silvery Bigfoot walk across their property. They were able to see it clearly enough that they could provide considerable details about it's face, fur and stride.

I would think that if Bigfoot truly exists, more evidence would have been found to support this conclusion. At the same time, if an animal is smart enough to avoid humans and had an area the size of a national forest (or more) for it's habitat, I suppose it might be possible for it to avoid detection. For some reason, people all over the world and throughout history keep seeing the same thing. Something must be going on - though not necessarily what they (or we) can assume.
 
Stagger Lee said:
I'm not sure the Flatwoods Monster qualifies
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That's one of those pieces of lore that fits into both the UFO arena and the cryptozoological arena. Mostly described as a robot, the reported entity is most definitely still technically a creature. It's a primary and entertaining example of what our pre-Grey UFO lore used to look like in the US. Encounters more similar to this are still reported in other parts of the world.
 
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